


Apartment 4B

by TheGlassNoodles



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-07-04
Packaged: 2018-07-21 15:09:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7392301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGlassNoodles/pseuds/TheGlassNoodles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's first year of university at Republic City University, and Korra is definitely feeling the pressure trying to get her undergrad in Biology. To cut costs, Korra agreed with her landlords to put up with a roomate.<br/>Meanwhile, Asami is trying to juggle her first year of mechanical engineering and her father's fraud case, making her the impromptu CEO of Future Industries once she's finished school. </p><p> </p><p>Hi, everybody. This is my first fic, and I'd love some feedback!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Apartment 4B

“Alright, Bo, last one,” huffed Korra.  
Hopping into the trailer Bolin rented for her for a couple days, she brushed her short, (slightly sweaty) brown hair out of her face, and walked towards the last box, sitting patiently at the back of the trailer. Korra slowly pushed the box across the trailer floor with her foot (she was way too tired and hot to pick it up) towards a waiting Bolin, who grabbed it, sliding it off the trailer, then immediately regretted his decision. The box was much heavier than poor Bo expected, and it plummeted to the ground, landing not-so-gracefully on his left big toe.  
“Shit!” Bolin yelped as he jerked his foot away, his voice several octaves higher than normal. “What do you have in there, bricks?”  
“Textbooks, actually. You’re not too far off.” Korra panted, wiping sweat off her forehead. She hopped out of the trailer onto the hot asphalt, then bent down, inspecting the integrity of the tape holding the box together. Satisfied that Bolin’s clumsiness hadn’t compromised the box, Korra grabbed the cut-out handles on either side and lifted the box in one swift movement, smirking at Bolin.  
“Yeah, well, if you told me the box weighed a thousand pounds, I would have anticipated it!” Huffed Bolin, who was sitting himself on the curb, holding a somewhat cold water bottle on his foot.  
“Right, Bolin. Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Korra called over her shoulder as she walked towards her new apartment building. “Get the door for me?”  
“Sure.” With that, Bolin sprang up from his spot on the curb and ran forwards (albeit limping slightly), water bottle in hand, and grabbed the door handle. “After you, milady.” He said with a terrible accent and an over exaggerated bow.  
“Why, thank you, good sir,” Korra chuckled, playing along. Somehow, even in the worst heat wave in ten years, Bolin found the energy to make the most mundane things somewhat bearable. Amused with his antics, she strolled past Bolin and into the wonderful magic of air conditioning. Walking towards the stairs, she paused, turning to look back at Bolin. “And what is the name of my gallant gentleman?”  
“You may call me Nuktuk, fair damsel, hero of the south!” Before climbing the stairs, Bolin took the opportunity to put one foot on the second step and flexed his biceps, posing dramatically with what he thought was a sexy pout.  
“Alright, alright already. Quit it, you dumbass.” Korra rolled her eyes as she elbowed Bolin aside the best she could with the heavy box in her hands, making her way up the stairs. “I take it you’re still excited about being the leading man in theatre club this year.”  
“You bet!” Bolin exclaimed, trotting up the stairs behind her at a slightly slower pace than usual to accommodate his bruised toe. “What about you? Excited about starting your second year?”  
“Yup.” Korra supplied, popping the “p” as she faced another flight of stairs. “While you’re at it, take a good long look now, ‘cause you won’t be seeing this pretty face until the end of the year. I’m going to be swamped with so much work I’ll have textbooks and papers coming up to my elbows, not to mention the gym.”  
“Yeah, well, at least me and Mako will see you at the gym. Gotta keep these guns loaded, am I right?” Bolin jokingly began flexing his arms again, drawing an unimpressed look from Korra. He sighed. “You know, the apartment is going to be really quiet with just Mako.”  
“There is no Mako,” Korra deadpanned jokingly. “Only a grumpy-ass robot forever hunched at his desk, snapping at any poor soul who just happens to make a decibel of sound within a ten foot radius.”  
“True,” Bolin chuckled as the pair turned to face another flight of stairs. “He’ll go back to being his normal self once Professor Beifong gets off his ass.”  
“Mako has a normal self?” Korra feigned shock. “And here I thought he was like that all the time!”  
Bolin laughed. “If it weren’t for spending a couple nights a week over at Opal’s, I think you’d find my head on the apartment door, warning others not to come too close.”  
“Yeah,” Korra breathed, staring at the last flight of stairs. Why the fuck did I have to get an apartment on the highest floor of a building with no motherfucking elevator? My legs are killing me, not to mention my arms.  
Korra took a deep breath. Putting the last of her energy into speeding up the stairs, she pushed the door marked LEVEL FOUR aside with her shoulder and practically sprinted for apartment 4B. Setting the box down along with four others, she rooted in the back pocket of her denim shorts for her keys.  
“I don’t know why you locked the damn door,” Bolin said at the top of the stairs, rolling his eyes. “It’s more work to pile all these boxes in front of the door than to just carry them inside.”  
“Maybe I like making sure my shit doesn’t get stolen, Bo.” Korra retorted. “It would be better for the hypothetical thief to make off with a couple boxes full of dishes sitting in front of my door, rather than my television and laptop.” After unlocking the door, Korra picked up a box marked BEDROOM while Bolin grabbed another with KITCHEN scrawled on the top flaps.  
“I guess. Want me to text Mako to bring some beer and help unpack? A break will do His Grumpiness some good.” Bolin called over his shoulder as he set the box down on the kitchen counter. Korra looked around. About twenty boxes littered the halls, and she put down the box she was carrying with the rest of them. A pile of wood supposed to be her bedframe was sitting on the balcony, her mattress leaned up against the cream-coloured wall of the living room, and so far, her dresser was only half way into her new bedroom. “Why the hell not. I could definitely use the help.” She said with a shrug. “Tell him he has to get the stick out of his ass before he gets over here. I’ll get Opal to come and buy us some take-out.”  
“That’s fine with me,” Bolin said happily as he whipped his phone out of the pocket of his shorts. “Does the landlord allow pets? There’s a chance that Naga might like it here. Pabu could come visit too!”  
“Sorry, Bolin. No pets. I had to leave Naga with Mom and Dad in the SWT. Also, I’m getting a roommate, and I don’t know how they feel about pets.”  
“Okay.” Bolin shrugged, finished texting Mako, then looked around the mostly empty room. “Is that why you packed the barest of minimums for this place? To make room for Mr. Roomie’s stuff?”  
“It’s Miss Roomie.” Corrected Korra. “In case she brought furniture of her own, I figured it would be less awkward. I don’t want to look like I’m taking over the entire apartment aside from her room.”  
“That’s alright, I guess. Also your old couch was a complete piece of crap. Glad that’s gone.”  
Korra nodded in agreement. Craigslist had certainly given her its best for under twenty yuans. She saved up some money while she was working at the gym, and after she helped settle in her incoming roommate tomorrow, she was going to borrow Bolin’s car and the trailer again to head to the IKEA on the other side of Republic City. It had been too long since Korra had some meatballs and seventy five cent hotdogs.  
Speaking of food, Korra was starving. She pulled out her phone to text an invite and her new address to Opal and beg her to bring something from Narook’s, a little restaurant specializing in Water Tribe food that sat across from campus. Korra checked the time. 6:32. Opal should have finished her first physics class this a couple minutes ago. Classes had started already at Republic City University, but Korra’s began the day after tomorrow, allowing her some time to move out of the crowded dorm on campus and into her new apartment. Opening the message app on her phone, Korra texted Opal.  
6:32 K: Hoooow’s my favourite friend doing after her first class?  
6:36 O: What do u want this time  
6:37 K: …  
6:38 K: I’m hurt Ope. What makes you think that I want something other than knowledge on the  
well-being of my friend??  
6:40 O: You always call me your fave when you want something  
6:42 K: Fine. At the insistence of YOUR boyfriend, I’m inviting you to bring us food and help unpack in  
exchange of booze  
6:45 O: What makes you think alcohol will be enough to bring you people food  
6:45 K: I’m going to IKEA tomorrow…  
6:46 K: Promised land of 6-packs of cinnamon buns for 2 yuans…  
6:47 O: …  
6:47 O: You’re spending at least 10 yuans on those things. Fine. Narook’s, right?  
6:48 K: Thanks Ope.  
Pocketing her phone, Korra walked to the kitchen where Bolin was opening the box he set on the counter earlier. Opening the flaps of the box, Bo lifted a wad of plates wrapped in newspaper and began unwrapping. Korra on the other hand opened another box marked KITCHEN and began putting pots and pans in their new home in the drawer under the oven.  
Half an hour later, Bolin and Korra had almost finished unpacking the kitchen when the doorbell rang. Korra opened the door, revealing a slightly-less- grumpier-than-usual Mako holding two mix-and-match six pack cartons filled with various kinds of alcohol. “Hey,” Mako nodded, walking into the apartment. “Nice place. Maybe I should move off campus.”  
“Hey, bro!” Bolin called from the kitchen. “What did you bring to drink?”  
“A couple hard lemonades and limonades, a few ciders, and some light beer.” Mako said with a shrug. “You better put them in the fridge, the bus on the way here was hotter than shit.” Judging by the amount of sweat in his shirt, Korra could tell he wasn’t exaggerating. Grabbing the alcohol from Mako’s sweaty hands, she made for the fridge. Once the drinks began chilling, the three friends began moving Korra’s furniture into her room.  
Forty-five minutes later, Mako, Bolin and Korra managed to fill the kitchen with Korra’s mismatched assortment of cookware, dishes, and cutlery, finished putting Korra’s dresser in her room, made her bed, and were in the process of setting up her television and game console when Opal knocked on the door, carrying two large white paper bags with a blue Water Tribe design printed on their fronts.  
“Hey, Opal,” Korra greeted as she opened the door. “We were just setting up the Xbo-“  
“Bo! I told you for the fiftieth time, this wire plugs into the television, this wire goes into the Xbox, and that piece of wire was used to tie this shit together earlier so that it wouldn’t get tangled!” Mako exclaimed loudly from the living room, exasperated.  
Opal and Korra shared a look for a long moment.  
Opal grimaced slightly. “Yes, that would be the idiot I have chosen.”  
“He may be an idiot, but at least he’s your idiot.” Korra sighed, stepping aside, letting Opal in. Bolin and Mako were immersed in their attempts to set up the television, as well as its antenna and Korra’s well-loved Xbox 360.  
“Bo, Mako, your handler’s here. Time to go home.”  
Mako turned from the piss-poor entertainment system to face the two girls. “Shut the fuck up, Korra.” Mako said good-naturedly. “And hello, Opal.”  
“Hello to you too, Mako.” Opal quickly set down the bags of takeout onto the kitchen counter to give him a quick hug. Upon hearing Opal’s voice, Bolin’s head snapped up from the game console and swiveled towards the kitchen. After seeing his girlfriend leaning against the counter, Bolin sprang to his feet, ran to the kitchen, grabbed his girlfriend, and dipped her down, giving her a kiss.  
“Alright, dumbasses, we get the idea,” Mako rolled his eyes. However, either Bolin and Opal hadn’t heard, or the pair was simply ignoring the other two people in the room. Probably the latter. Korra merely walked over to the sink, ran her hand under the frigid water, then began flicking droplets of water at the greeting turned borderline makeout session.  
“Hey!” Opal shrieked as she leapt away from Bolin and Korra, her grey t-shirt speckled with slightly darker spots.  
“Rude!” Bolin exclaimed, wiping his face on clean dishcloth laying nearby.  
“Rude deserves rude,” Korra sang in a sing-song voice as she dried her hands on her shorts. “Anyways, I would have gotten cavities from all the mushy-gushy sweetness shit radiating from the middle of my kitchen.”  
“You’re just jealous.” Opal said, sticking her tongue out as she peered into the take-out bags. “Alright. Seaweed Noodles for me and Bolin appear to be in this bag, while Mako’s sea prune salad and Korra’s double serving of Arctic Hen wraps are in the other.” After grabbing the bag with her and Mako’s food, Korra opened a cupboard. Then another.  
“Bolin, where exactly did you put the plates again?”  
After locating her dishes, Korra opened up the fridge, bare except for the alcohol Mako brought earlier. Damn it, how the fuck am I supposed to get groceries when I have to get furniture and meet Miss Roomie? Korra sighed, then began passing out bottles of alcohol to her guests. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.  
Because Korra’s single bedframe was set up in her room with her mattress (without sheets, however, because Korra donated her old ones covered in Otter-Penguins before she embarrassed herself any further on laundry day), she led her friends onto the newly-vacated balcony to enjoy their food and the rest of the evening. The Krew sat down on the slightly peeling paint, with Korra praying silently for no slivers. Opening their respective boxes of food, Bolin and Korra promptly began stuffing their faces, hungry after moving heavy boxes in the hot sun. Mildly disgusted by their eating habits, Mako and Opal made it a point to move to the other side of the balcony to enjoy their food. Korra shot them a look.  
“Oo no aa don wuwully ee ike eth,” she said as she crammed the end of a wrap in her mouth.  
“English please, Korra. I don’t speak Slob.” Said Opal. Korra glared at her, then grabbed her drink to wash down the food prohibiting her from speaking like a normal person.  
“I said,” Korra said clearly, “You know I don’t usually eat like this. You try lugging boxes around in the heat all day and we’ll see if you still have the patience and energy to care about how you look eating.”  
“Fine, you win,” Opal shrugged, then changed the subject. “When’s your roommate coming again?”  
“Tomorrow.” Korra replied, grabbing her second wrap. To be honest, that was one of the very few things Korra knew about her future roommate. As she chewed, she mulled over what she already knew about Miss Roomie.  
1) She was female.  
2) She was 22, same as Korra.  
3) She was working towards an undergrad in mechanical engineering at RCU, while Korra was working towards an undergrad in Biology.  
4) She had a clean police record check.  
5) Her name began with the letter A. (Or was it an S? Sam? Amy?)  
All of these facts Korra knew from her landlords, Tenzin and Pema Gyatso. The couple were long-time friends of her parents, who lived next door to Tenzin’s mother. Thanks to some strings her parents pulled, Korra enjoyed a hundred yuans off her rent and Sunday dinners with the Gyatso family. However, in return, Korra had to babysit four very manic children once a month so that Tenzin and Pema could enjoy a night out every once in a while.  
Finishing her last wrap, Korra grabbed her drink, hoping to quell some of the acid butterfly-mice she got in her stomach whenever she got nervous. What if she got the roommate from hell? She would hate to move again, and she much preferred her new apartment to the crowded dorms on campus. Tuning out her worried thoughts, she finished her dinner then stood up, interrupting Bolin and Opal’s debate on whether Opal should get a video game system or not.  
“But Bolin, I already have Netflix, and that’s already one hell of a distraction. If I listen to you and get an Xbox One, I’ll never graduate!”  
“But Opal,” Bolin pleaded, giving her his best baby cat-deer eyes. “It’s the Xbox One!”  
“Shut up, bro.” Mako interjected, annoyed with Bolin’s bickering. “She already said no. To be honest, your grades could use some improvement, and that means less distractions, not more.”  
“Fine.” Bolin sighed resignedly, then perked up. “Hey, we haven’t finished setting up Korra’s Xbox yet!”  
“That’s okay, Bolin,” Korra said hurriedly, remembering how “setting up the Xbox” went an hour ago. “I need to get a television bench tomorrow anyways, so I’ll set the Xbox and all that other crap up then.” She grabbed Mako’s and Opal’s empties off the balcony then went to open the door.  
“But what are we supposed do all evening?” Bolin whined, using the balcony rail to pull himself to his feet. He was met with three incredulous stares.  
“Unpack, Bolin. Korra invited us here to help her unpack.” Mako groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. Korra and Opal shared a look before turning inside.  
“Oh, right.” Bolin grinned, slightly embarrassed.  
Walking into the kitchen, Opal dumped the dirty takeout containers into the recycling bin while Korra placed the glass bottles carefully at the bottom of the bin so they wouldn’t break.  
“I don’t know what to do with that boy,” Opal sighed. “Anyways, how about you two,” She pointed at the brothers, “Finish putting away the kitchen stuff and put together Korra’s table and chairs while Korra and I start putting away her clothes.”  
“Sure,” said Mako, grabbing a box marked KITCHEN. “Sounds like a plan.”  
At 9:30, the Krew was bushed. Korra and Opal managed to organize Korra’s room into a somewhat organized space while the guys managed to finish unpacking the kitchen and put together four chairs and a table. Boxes still littered the living room though, and Korra sat on one filled with textbooks, smiling tiredly.  
“Thanks for the help, guys.” She yawned, tired. Her arms, legs and eyelids felt like they were filled with lead. Mako, Bolin and Opal didn’t look much better either. After saying goodnight, her friends let themselves out, with Korra locking the door behind them. Walking into her bedroom, Korra got ready for bed, then flopped onto her bare mattress, too hot and tired to care about the lack of sheets on the bed as she fell asleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all,  
> hoped you liked the first chapter!  
> I'm on the hunt for a good beta, so if anybody is willing to kick my grammatical ass and be an editor in their free time, please tell me!  
> I would also like to hear some feedback from anybody (You could love it or hate it, feedback is feedback).  
> I'm very busy this summer, so updates are going to be irregular (But they will happen!)  
> Toodles,  
> TheGlassNoodles  
> (THAT RHYMED!! UNINTENTIONALLY! I will be doing this from now on.)


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